Euromusic Song Contest 2015
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 will be the 11th annual Euromusic Song Contest and will be held in Switzerland, following Justin Timberlake's winning performance at the Euromusic Song Contest 2014 in London, United Kingdom. During the winner's press conference, an Public Television of Switzerland (SSR SRG) representative informed that the host city could be Bern. It was announced during the meeting of the Head of Delegations in 2014 that the dates for the two semi-finals are 19 May and 21 May 2015, with the final planned for the evening of 23 May 2015. This will be the first time Sweden is hosting the contest. Format The format of the 11th contest is still not confirmed. However, Jon Ola Sand has said that it will be something that will properly pay tribute to the contest. Before the 2013 Contest, it was reported that the 2015 Contest would take place in three countries after having three winners in the 2014 Contest. However, it was later revealed that the statement was nothing but just an April Fools' Day joke. In late 2011, it was announced by the EBU that they had started an attempt on archiving all the contests since the 2009 with the results expected well before the 2015 Contest. It was later reported that the archive is ready and will be opened in the 11th anniversary. The content of the archive will be accessible to the public through the official Euromusic website. Location For more details on the host country, see Switzerland Bidding phase After the victory of the country in the 2014 Contest, the Austrian delegation revealed the possibilities of hosting the contest either in the capital city, Bern or Geneva. Geneva, Zürich and Bern are all reportedly interested in hosting the contest. Confirmed Paticipants Semi-Finalist(s) Finalist(s) Countries * Belarus - Although it is yet to confirm their participation in the contest, the minister of culture of Belarus, Boris Svetlov, has discussed with Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak on the country's national selection for the 2015 Contest. * Cyprus - It has been reported that a return of the country for the 7th anniversary of the contest is possible. Even if it hasn't been officially confirmed, the country will select their entry through a national selection. * Greece - On 12 May 2014 it was rumoured that Greece is thinking to withdraw in 2015 contest because they find totally unfair the new rule that says that the organizers should determine the running order of the final and the semifinal. The second argument has to do with the jury voting as Greece was never in favor of the 50% jury system. * Israel - According to local sources, the Israeli government is planning to shut down the IBA channel in March 2015 and therefore their participation in the 2015 Contest is in doubt. * Serbia - In a press conference on 7 April 2014, head of press at RTS, Duška Vučinić, stated that RTS hope to send a representative in 2015 and continue Serbia's participation in the contest. * Turkey - Though TRT announced that Turkey would not be participating in the 2014 Contest making it the second year of their withdrawal, it was later reported that a return in the 2015 Contest is possible. In February 2014, the Euromusic event supervisor Sietse Bakker tweeted about the possibility of the country's return.